Resident Evil 6 (Campaign)

Published on December 17, 2012, by Jason Gardner - Posted in Video Games0

6Overall Score

Gameplay:5/10

Visuals:8/10

Plot/Characters:6/10

We finally get the controls we wanted, and the updated graphics allow for some awesome settings for the 'horror' this game brings.

The controls suck at times and the uncharacteristic additions to the game raise plenty of questions.

I should probably preface this entire review with the simple fact that I am and probably always will be a Resident Evil fanboy. That being said, I can spot a bad game when I see one – the unfortunate thing for me to admit about Resident Evil 6 is that despite actually fixing two of the biggest irks in the series, the developers managed to forget that they were making a Resident Evil game and that that game still had to make textual and physical sense.

Don’t get it twisted though – if you play through the Leon campaign first, as there are three different campaigns that seemingly cross paths at different points in the overarching story of RE6, you’ll more often than not get the closest continuation of the story and ideas behind the franchise. The story is at least reasonably believable, while the settings, characters and flow of the game make you want to come back for more. This is something you’ll want to remember, because as most people will tell you, Resident Evil 6 is not easy by any means. Yet as you continue into Chris and Jake’s separate campaigns, you’ll realize almost all bets are off. The J’avo are some sort of mutated gun-wielding army that made me actually forget what game I was playing at times. Chris’ story isn’t exactly all that well-penned either, ditching any sort of tough-guy ideal for a troubled man who crosses paths with the son of the man he killed at the exit of RE5 – Jake.

In any case though, the story takes a bit of a back seat to the ramped up action of this game. Where RE5 felt like a mod of RE4, this installment kills the tank controls in the anticipation that you’ll have very little chance to survive the increased number of baddies when using a simple control scheme as such. Problem is, the control itself is so clunky that it’s rather difficult to truly perfect. Add in the fact that the physical attacks seemingly do better work at times than gunfire – saving of course that it’s entirely way too much fun to ram zombie heads into the ground – and the whole thing just seems a bit unpolished. The idea is certainly there, and trust me it needs to be, but you can’t quite tap it to its full potential.

In the finality of things, Resident Evil 6 is not a complete failure, but in all honesty leaves you wanting a bit more. For having been told it might be five years for a new game back when RE5 was out, this sort of result seems to cater to the notion that maybe things got a bit rushed in the process. To be blunt though, unless you’re a fanboy or have some sort of investment in the story of this franchise, Resident Evil 6 leaves little to enjoy in the wake of increased body counts and decreased AI frustration.

Check back soon for a full review of the multiplayer/online portion of this game.